Improvement in refrigerators



tnierl gister @anni @met EDWIN D. BRAINARn-or ALBANY, NEW YORK.

.Letters Patent No. 93,046, dated July 27, 1869.

'IMPROVEMENT IN REFRIGERATORS.

- The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and `malking'par't of the same.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, EDWIN D. BRAINARD, of A1-v bany, inthe county of Albany, .andState of New York, have made an Improvement in Refrigerators and I do hereby declarepthat the following is a full and exact description thereof, reference being had to the 4non-conducting air-cornpartment.

' Similar letters indicate the same parts in all the drawings.

This' invention relates to au improved frigerator for domestic purposes; and

My improvement consistsin constructing the body or frame of double wooden walls orcasings, in such manner as to formindependent and separate air-spaces or compartments in the sides, ends, and bottom of the refrigerator, in which the wooden body or frame is sheathed, both internally and externally, with a continuous and hermetically-sealed sheet-metal wrapper.

Domestic refrigerators are usually constructed of a wooden frame, which is boarded and painted on the outside, and lined on the inside with sheet-zinc, or other metal, the space between the outside wooden boarding and the inside metalv lining being filled in or packed withpowdered charcoal, sawdust, or other nonconducting substance, to exclude the heat of t-lre atmosphere. Y

This mode of constructing refrigerators is very de-4 fective. The external air penetrates through the outside wooden casing into the packing, carrying along with it both heat and moisture. The moisture condenses against the colder metallic lining of the interior refrigerating-chamber, and the constant `darnpness produced within the frame of the refrigerator rots the wood and rusts the metal, causing leakage and decay, which destroy its usefulness in a comparatively short time.

. In my improved refrigerator these defects of con-r struction are entirely obviated.

The casings or walls are made wholly of unplaned boards, which are cut up into sets of pieces to match exactly, so that they are easily nailed together' to form a box-like frame containing separate and independent air-spaces or compartments' between the inner and outer walls or casings, in the sides, ends, and bottom of -the refrigerator.

portable relThe wooden frame is completely protected from the destructive iniiuence of the atmospheric air, and the moisture it-contains by the application of an external, as wellas an internal metal sheathing, as hereinafter described, Vand as shown clearly in the drawings.

' To enable others to make and use the same, I will now proceed to describe my improvement.

The outside walls or casings a a, ofthe sides of the vwooden frame, are cut longer than the inside casings b b, so that their ends shall project far enough to admit separate end-pieces, formed of outer casings c c, and inner casings` d d, as seen in iig. 3. n

The side casings a c and l) b are boxed up a few inches apart, to` forrnfair-spaces or compartments 1 1 between them, and the end casings c o and d d are .boxed up to form air.- compartments 2 2 between' them.

,Atthc bottom an outer casing, e, is nailed upon the longer side casings c c, and an inner casing, g,

joins the inner side casings b b, forming an air-cornpartmeut, 3, in the under side ofthe refrigerator.

Theend-pieces, formed of the inner and outer casings c c and d d, are put together separately, as shown.

in iig. 4, and are fitted in place between the project` ing ends of the outer side casings a a, up against .the ends of the inner side casings Trb, and the inner bottom casing g.

They are fastened witlrnails or screws through the projecting ends of the outer' casings a a and outer bottom casing e.

The body'or frame of the refrigerator having thus been made of sawed boards, cut to match and form a parallelogram, perfectly true in its sides and proper'- tions, `is sheathed both externally and internally with a continuous wrapper, s s, of galvanized sheet-iron, zinc, or other suitable metal.

The sheathing is made of several metal sheets,

joined at the edges by a folding-machine, and soldered together', to seal the seams hermetically.

The wooden body or frame of the refrigerator is thus completely protected, the metal sheathing on thc outside is impervious to the external air, and no moisture can penetrate, to produce dampness and quick destruction of the wood and metal by rust and rot.

The air-compartments .1, 2, 3, between the walls or casing's, are, in fact, dead-air chambers, being separate compartments, in' which the air cannot circulate, and these dead-air chambers are better non-conductors of heat than any kind of packing.

A refrigerator thus constructed is cheap, effective, and durable.

The ice-box and iixtures in the interior of the refrigerator may be made, as usual, in any manner desired, but the cover should also be iined with sheetmetal, as shown in the drawings.4

I do not claim broadly the separate and independent airchambers oroompartments in the frame or body of the refrigerator; but having fully described myjmprovement in the mode of constructing refrigerators,

What I claim, and desiretovsecure by Letters Patent Vs refrigerator, havin g the frame or body constructed with double side easings a and b, end casings c and d,

and bottom oasings e and g, enclosing dead-air chembers 1, 2, and 3, when said frame or body is sheathed both externally and internallywith a continuous und hermetcally-sealed sheet-metal wrapper, s, substantially as and for the purposes herein described.

EDWIN D. BRAINARD.

Witnesses: i

A. V. DE WHT, FRED. H. MANN. 

